A Problem Shared is a Problem halved

A couple of months ago I shared with you guys the patterns that I’d bought recently, well now it’s time to share my fabric purchases from the last few months! (You might say I have a fabric-buying problem… but a problem shared is a problem halved right? 🤔 So I only have half of a fabric problem now? 🤪)

I quite often get asked where I buy my fabrics from, and the truth is that I get them from anywhere and everywhere. I love wasting an hour or so just browsing through eBay or Etsy to see what’s about – sometimes you can find absolute gems. Sometimes you come away with nothing. Other times you come away wondering how you’re gonna pay bills for the rest of the month. Or year. 😳

GUCCI PANTHER FACE SILK TWILL

I scored this beauty from this eBay seller, who unfortunately doesn’t appear to sell fabric anymore. I stumbled across it totally by accident, but as soon as I saw it I knew it SIMPLY HAD TO BE MINE. It’s a 2.7 meter piece of silk twill which is even more beautiful in real life than it was online. It was an auction, so I had to be careful not to get caught up in the buzz and put a maximum bid of more than I should sensibly pay… but, you know how that turned out 🤣 I ended up paying just shy of £100 for my almost-three-metres but it was worth every penny. I love it. And when you contemplate this screenshot of the same print on some viscose trousers, it really doesn’t seem so pricey…

(and can we talk about their lack of pattern matching? 😱)

I mean, they clearly *can* pattern match – the jacket below shows that – so if I’m gonna pay that much for a pair of trousers then I damn well expect matching panther heads!

(although, that right sleeve on the jacket isn’t matched, but y’know, they tried harder here)

The fabric is 60 inches wide, so I’ve got quite a lot to play with. I’ve stolen 70-ish centimetres of it to make a Grainline Scout Tee (on the blog soon – promise!) but I haven’t yet decided what I’ll make with the rest. I’m toying with the idea of a bomber jacket, but I might be too bloody scared to wear it outdoors in case I pluck it 🤣 I’m thinking a shirt, purely because I know that’s something that will get a lot of wear. I’m actually looking for a boyfriend-fit women shirt pattern, so if you got any recommendations – HOLLA.

Adidas Leopard Jersey

This fabric was a bit of a gamble, and I think I might have lost this bet. I bought it off an eBay seller in China, thinking it would be good for (yet another) Kielo dress – a long-sleeved one for the winter. The listing said it was ‘knitted fabric, jersey’. I waited like over a month for it to arrive, and when I collected the package from the post office my first thought was ‘wow, it’s heavy’ 🤔 I opened up the parcel – the fabric looked as I expected, but felt a bit different… it was more like sweatshirt-y fabric, but without the stretch. It has a tiny amount of stretch, but not as much as I was hoping. I’m not sure if it’s suitable for a Kielo now, I might have to make some sort of jumper 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m pretty sure the pictures in the listing show a jersey fabric (they show the back of the fabric too, and it looks like normal jersey), but the back of my fabric looks like… I dunno. Something weird (pic below). Not cotton jersey, that’s for sure. It’s like loop-back jersey, I suppose. They stated in the listing that you can make a t-shirt or underwear with it, which you would totes do with regular cotton jersey, but I’m pretty sure nobody wants to wear underwear made from loop-back jersey 😕

I’ve emailed the seller to ask what gives, so let’s see what they come back with. I’m kind of hoping that I’ve been sent the wrong weight of fabric, and this print does actually exist in a cotton jersey that I can make a Kielo dress from (because that’s what I had my heart set on), so let’s see.

PRADA LIPS SILK CREPE

The husband said recently that he wanted to really get back in to his sewing – he made a silk top for me last year, and tried his hand at the toile for his fur coat that I made him, but hadn’t really made anything since. He put this down to not really finding any fabric that made him go YES I WANT TO WORK WITH THAT GIVE IT TO ME NOW, so I told him to have a look online and choose some fabric that did make him feel like that.

He found this seller on Etsy and liked a couple of their listings – this Prada fabric being one of them. It’s a silk crepe, not sheer, so decent enough to make a top for me from that I could wear to work. They only had one yard, so we snapped it up and settled on the Grainline Studios Scout tee (yep, another Scout). He has actually made the top already, and is currently working on his blog post for it… so expect to see him posting on here again soon!

Versace jersey

The other thing the husband bought from the same seller as the Prada lipstick print above was some Versace jersey for himself – it’s a viscose jersey so it’s properly soft (but also very shifty-shifty, I told him good luck with that lol) and he wants to make a tshirt from it. He has already chosen his pattern – the Mimi G/Simplicity 8613 and if that’s a success he may have just found himself a wardrobe builder!

Cotton Jersey for more Comox Trunks

After my success of the first pair of Comox Trunks, I knew I would have to make more, but struggled to find interesting cotton jerseys to make them from – you know I ain’t gonna be using no boring plain jersey to sew with. I got these two beauties from Stoff-Laden on eBay, they are really lovely quality and a good thick weight (I always worry about jersey being too thin when I buy online). At least it didn’t turn out to be loop-back jersey like the shambles above.

I keep searching for cool elastics to use on waistbands of the Comox trunks, but I never really find anything – I’m hoping that one of the many trimmings shops in the NYC garment district is going to scratch that itch for me!

CRAZY-CRAZY SILK

Don’t you just love it when things have a happy ending? I’d had this fabric saved in my Etsy basket for literally MONTHS, but never bought it because the price for a couple of metres was a bit steep when you added the shipping from the US to the UK. Instead I just drooled over it from time to time, basking it all its bright-coloured glory.

Then, after the husbeast had completed his purchase of the Prada lips fabric and the Versace jersey (above)👆🏻(yas, dahling, he has mightily expensive tastes 💁🏻‍♀️) Etsy flashed up one of those ‘don’t forget/also in your basket’ kind of things with this fabric showing. But the price wasn’t right. It was too low. I started to get palpitations. Did they have a sale on? Had it been reduced? OMG OMG OMG. I got the listing up on screen and it had indeed been reduced. And they had two yards. Enough to make the shirt I’d be dreaming of since I first saw it. I added it to my basket and checked out quicker than Usain Bolt off the start line. I was so excited to receive it, and the colours are just as vivid in real life as they are in the pictures. It’s going to make one really awesome super-loud shirt, that’s for sure.

I got it from this Etsy seller, which is the same place that I bought this leopard silk jacquard and Opening Ceremony hand-print silk crepe you see here:

More Versace jersey

More. Versace. Jersey.

I’m not sure whether I should be concerned that the husband has such lavish taste in fabrics, or that he’s also figured out how to use the eBay app and place bids on stuff 😧 This very bling and shiny-shiny jersey came from the same seller as my Gucci panther-face silk at and it’s going to be another husbeast-made garment for himself. I think it will be a t-shirt, but that’s not yet confirmed.

Alexander Henry Tatsu fabric

This Alexander Henry fabric is an out of print, rare-as-hens-teeth design – though saying that, I have seen a couple of pieces kicking about t’internet in the last year or so. I got my piece from this eBay seller.

I thought this would look really good on the husband so I bought a couple of metres, with the intention of probably making him a shirt. Not sure whether it will be short sleeve or long sleeve yet.

Talking about rare-as-hens-teeth fabric, for a while now I’ve been wanting to get my paws on some of the ‘Bow Wow Chow Mein’ Alexander Henry print from back in the day (‘the day’ being 1994. Holy crap I’ve just realised that that’s 24 years ago). I absolutely love this print. I’ve only seen it one time, on Etsy, and the seller wanted about £30 per yard 😱 Plus she was in the US so I had to add shipping on top of that, which wasn’t cheap. The husband got all sensible on me and said did I *really* want to pay that much for two yards (yards, not even metres guys) of cotton fabric? Well, yes in theory I bloody well did, because this might be my only chance ever to have it, but in practice, the bank account had other plans. I had to pass it up. I still shed a tear for it every now and then.

Because I wanted to show you guys how awesome the print was, I googled it to get a picture. Then I saw there was an Etsy listing for this fabric. A 2.5 metre piece. OMG. A current, active listing too. Available for purchase. RIGHT NOW.

And it was a reasonable price, too. Nowhere near the £30 per yard that the last seller wanted. So I bought it 🙈 I blame you guys for that purchase – if I hadn’t been writing this post to tell you about the fabric, I wouldn’t have googled it, then I wouldn’t have found the listing, and wouldn’t have bought it… so this purchase doesn’t count as part of my ‘fabric problem’, m’kay???? 🤣

Pineapple jersey

This is destined to be a Kielo dress, next year. Kielo dresses are pretty much the only thing I make with jersey nowadays! I’ve missed the summer for this year now though which is why the project is being deferred to next year.

These pineapples are totally cute with their glasses on, amirite?! The print is by Springs Creative and I got it from this eBay seller.

Tula Pink

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS THIS FABRIC IS GORGEOUS. I’m a bit of a lurker when it comes to Tula Pink, as in I always admire the designs and bright colours but have never actually bought any – I’m not a quilter, and nothing really jumped out at me as garment-appropriate. Hence why I never bought any of her designs. But then a while back I saw her De La Luna collection, and fell in love. I just HAD to have these fabrics in my life – I mean, how beautiful are those day of the dead portraits? 😍😍😍😍😍

I still couldn’t figure out how I could work them into my fabric stash though. I wanted to have the fabric but I didn’t want to wear it.

I then had the bright idea that I’d sew myself some accessories with it – so that’s what ima gonna do. A knitting project bag (more on that coming up on the blog soon!), a couple of notions bags… maybe even a satchel. All for me. And then I had ANOTHER bright idea… I’m gonna make stuff for my Etsy shop with it as well so I can share the De La Luna-love with others around the world too.

I actually consider my choices pretty restrained – i bought the same set of three designs in the pink and green colour ways:

It was only afterwards that I realised that they also did the sugar skulls print (the top one of the three) in pink as well as purple, so I had to go back and get a couple of yards of that as well 🤦🏻‍♀️)

I’ve got loads of new items brewing for the store (way more than I actually/realistically have time to make, unfortunately – can I quit my day job but still be paid plz?), so I’ll be making some up in these fabrics 🤗

Ethnic stripes

I’m sure you’ve seen some pictures of the Fennel Fanny Pack kicking around Instagram – I definitely have, and I’ve bookmarked an insane amount of them as inspo for my own.

For me, this is the perfect little bag to sling over my shoulder when I take the dogs for a walk. I might even take it on holiday with me, to carry essentials. That, of course, requires me to actually get round to making it – my list of projects is about five years long atm though 🙄

Anyhoo I got these ethnic beauties from this seller on Etsy. I’m not sure they are *quite* as thick as I’d hoped (I was heading more for canvas) but I’m sure they will do 👍🏻

Valentino fabric

So this one *technically* isn’t for me to sew, but to wear. After the success of the Liberty top that the husbeast made for me, he’s heading on to bigger things. I got this Valentino silk from an eBay seller (genuine? Maybe. Do I care? Not really) who originally sent the wrong fabric, but then sent the proper one pretty quickly. So now I also have two metres of a very similar fabric, but it has planets on it instead of stars. I’m pretty sure that the husbeast now has his eye on a planet shirt for himself, which I guess I’ll be making in return for him making me this shirt.

She does have a lot of other designer fabrics, so definitely worth checking out her shop.

Vintage sari

I’ve been hankering after a sari for a while now, as I keep seeing people’s beautiful creations with them. I chose this vintage/used silk sari because of its autumn colours (obviously, best season 🙌🏻) and I was planning on using it for some sort of lightweight dress that I can wear over tights and a polo neck. But I’m not sure on a pattern yet. The silk is actually quite stiff, so I’m going to bung it in the washing machine and see if it softens up. That might end up influencing what it gets used for.

I got it from this eBay seller, who has lots of beautiful items in her shop – but there are over 7000 things listed so you might want to grab a cuppa (and possibly a snack or two) before you sit down to browse her wares.

Liberty fabrics

A few weeks back, by total chance, I was passing Liberty, so thought I’d head on in. My bank account regrets this decision.

Turns out they had a sale on, with some fabrics off the bolt having savings and they also had loads and loads of pre-cut pieces at about half price. HALF PRICE 😱🤑

I was in there for about an hour making up my mind, and even got chatting to a lovely Australian lady who was in London on holiday, who had bought so much Liberty fabric she had no more room in her suitcase to take anything else back 🙈 But, like many of us, she couldn’t resist such a good fabric bargain and had come back to get a couple more metres to put in her hand luggage 🤣

I ended up with a pretty respectable haul.

For the husbeast:

The white fabric (at the top) is a 3m piece.

The black fabric (bottom left) is a 1m piece which I’ve cut into for a short sleeve shirt, but I’ve had to cut the facings of the collar, collar stand and yoke from the white fabric as there wasn’t enough black.

The darker fabric with the diagonal print (above bottom left) is two 1m cuts, which I’m hoping to pair together to make a long-sleeved shirt.

For me:

Bottom right, and the one above are both one metre pieces. The bottom one will be a Deer and Doe Bruyere, and the one above will be a Grainline Scout tee (seriously, that pattern is fast becoming a wardrobe staple for me!).

The fabric with the pink flowers, deer and peacocks is my favourite print, and I got 2m to make a shirt. This one has been bumped up the sewing queue and I’m hoping to start it soon 🙌🏻

So that lot covers probably the last six months… now that I’ve writtedn it all down, it seems like quite a lot 😳 Am I buying fabric quicker than I can make things? Yes, probably. And that rate is going to accelerate rapidly over the next couple of months when I head to NYC and hit up the garment district. I think there will definitely have to be a fabric buying ban imposed for at LEAST the rest of the year, if not all of next year too 🙈 The thing is, I’m quite fussy with fabrics, and I can easily walk round 20 stores and come out with nothing. So when I see a fabric that I like, I kinda feel like I have to buy it, in case I don’t see anything else I like for the next two months, or I regret not buying it when I find the PERFECT pattern for it two years later, only to find it’s now out of print and I can’t get hold of it anymore 🙄

I really need to sort through my boxes of fabric and separate the leftover/scraps from the actual fabric yardage, because atm it’s all kind of lumped in together and it’s a bit (a lot) chaotic. That way I can see what I actually have available to make garments from, and what I have to use to test button holes on. I then need to start planning projects around the fabrics I already have. I remember reading aaaaages ago about an app that people were using to keep track of their fabric stash – anyone remember what it’s called? You could add a photo and how much of it you had. I think I might have to find it and start using it. Or at least get some sort of organisational process so that I can see what I’ve got, because I think it might be getting a little out of hand.

What method do you use to keep track – if any? Do you just like to have a rummage through your stash every so often and see what you can find? It must be like Christmas when you come across the forgotten gems, right? 🤣

Expect to see another post like this around the start of November, because I no doubt will have doubled the size of my stash in New York 😳🤑🤣🙌🏻

Coming up next week on the Wanderstitch blog… a Kielo dress, because we haven’t had one of those in a while ✂️Subscribe below to make sure you don’t miss out!👇🏻

SUBSCRIBE TO WANDERSTITCH

Enter your email address below to receive fabulous new posts direct to your inbox! No spam ever, just awesome sewing stuff for you to enjoy.

Email Address

Book Sleeves now available in the Wanderstitch Studio store - keep your books nice and safe in your bag!

29 Comments

Angela Dent

September 9, 2018 / 8:07 am

I spent a day sorting my stash. I stapled a sample to an index card with what it is, metres, width and any other info and in which bag I stored it. I put all my cards in a tin in order of length of fabric and now I can browse my tin instead of pulling out all out my fabric! I love it and when I start a new project I can relive my stash and select. Brill!

I think that’s what I need to do Angela… set aside a day and really sort it out. Document what I have, somewhere that I can easily access – like your tin! That’s a brilliant idea – I might copy that 🙂 I do sew from my stash a fair bit, but then I do (usually) buy fabrics with a project in mind, unless I’m caught off guard by a fabric that I SIMPLY MUST HAVE NOW 😀

I would love to visit the Liberty shop in London, but just that word and I shiver, loads of people pushing, not knowing where anything is and being in danger as I would look just like I was , a visitor. I’d go with someone else, so if anyone lives near Winchester, the coffee and cake or G and T is on me on our visit to Liberty xx

Ahh, Cindy I will meet up with you and whoever is travelling with you if you can get to London! It’s probably not as bad as you think it is… it’s a bit manic on a weekend but during the week it’s quieter 🙂

Sarah, Thanks for putting things in perspective! I can see now that I don’t really have a problem… hehe… I read about a program for keeping track of fabric on Helen’s (Helen’s Closet) blog. Pretty impressive, but I like to stroke my lovelies. A very enjoyable post on a favorite topic!

Hi Melody! Thanks for the tip, I went over to Helen’s blog to see what she recommended 🙂 She mentioned an app, Trello – I think that might be the app that I was trying to remember the name of! So thank you! I think I might have to download that app and then start the laborious task of taking pictures of every fabric and trying to remember how much yardage I have of each… short term pain, long term gain right? Glad you enjoyed the post – hope you managed to get some sewing time in this weekend! And none of us have a ‘fabric problem’ really… we just really appreciate a good cloth! We are just like art appreciaters, surely…

Love your blog. Now I don’t feel quite so guilty about my stash. I store my fabric in Really Useful boxes of which I have … ahem, several. I also have my batiks in two large drawers and my silks in another drawer. Then there are the fabrics that don’t fit other categories and are in poly zipper bags, the sort that duvets come in. I don’t have index cards, nor use an app, to keep track, but all the boxes are clear, so I can see what’s in them and have a sort through to find forgotten treasures. My scraps I chuck in one of those large, plastic tub things. I regularly sort it out and give some to a local special needs school, where they have an art department and teacher, but no budget. However, said tub is always overflowing! I also have jersey scraps, stored in another Really Useful box. I have been using this lately to make vests for a disabled cat that is unable to control her body temperature. They are fiddly to make, but look so sweet when done 🙂 I have made 7 so far, but will continue until I’m told the owner cat’s has enough. I certainly have enough scraps to keep going!

I’m so glad you enjoy the blog Brenda! 🙂 I too store my fabrics in the Really Useful boxes! Well, I buy the big ones, so I guess you’d call them ‘crates’ rather than boxes… :O I think if I set one particular box aside for scraps, that would be a quick win and would improve the chaos a lot. But I definitely do need to bring some sort of order to things! I think the app I was looking for is ‘Trello’, so I might see if I can find the time to get that off the ground, because currently I’m relying on my (pretty ropey) memory to remember what fabrics I have. That’s so wonderful that you can donate to the school… I might have a look around locally here in South East London because I’m *sure* we must have somewhere that could use fabric scraps. And it made me all warm and fuzzy to know that the little kitty-cat has specially-made vests that keep her warm… that is such a lovely thing to do 🙂

I just spent that last hr reading your blog and clicking through all those LUSCIOUS links!! I didn’t even get through it all but talk about enabling Sarah – that was exhausting. I think I’ll have some cake and go and lie down 🙂 I do the same thing as you – save listings for future visits. I would describe my fabric organization similar to the way I organize everything in my life – only I know what is where. It certainly looks more haphazard than it really is (my partner, for example would say it’s WAY more on the haphazard end of things). I have fabric in zip lock bags with a note inside (and one of those silicone packages that you get in vitamins that absorb moisture) describing the fabric, the date I purchased it & whether it’s prewashed. I have some in it’s original mailing bag which is already sealed really well with the details written in marker on the outside. Some is in plastic bins folded with a note. It’s mostly on shelving in my partner’s play room which yes he has been known to whine about, and some is under tables in neat piles in our living room. That’s my haul of shame truly. Knits can be annoyingly bulky taking up so much darn room! I have sworn off buying fabric for at least a year. Yes…ahem we’ll see how I make out with that especially with rather spectacular, shameless enablers like a certain someone… By the way if you find a fabric annoyingly stiff (ie denim, linen) you can throw in a can of coke (not the CAN but the coke liquid – I actually had that question asked!, “Wouldn’t the can wreak havoc in your washing machine?”) A woman at our sewing group suggested it and I tried it and it worked like a charm!!

Haha… I take no responsibility for any purchases made as a result of my post 🤣 I always love to hear about where other people buy their fabric, because there’s so many undiscovered places out there – both online and in real life! Haha, I think my husband would say the same, that it looks like total chaos 🤣 The notes with the yardage etc is a good idea, perhaps I should try that. Currently I rely on my memory 🙄 and as to whether it’s pre washed or not… I look at the cut edges and see if they still look neat or if they look a bit birds-nesty from going through the wash 🤷🏻‍♀️ I did assume that you didn’t mean the can… but a previous younger me might have thrown the actual can in 🤣 Hmm I wonder why that works… is it the fizz, do you think? 🤔

I used to use an app, but the developer let it lapse and it became incompatible with my phone. So now I save photos of the fabric to my phone and use my list app to record the details. I buy mostly online, so I just save the photo from the site. I often use the photo for my next project for my phone wallpaper. In the list app I record the month and year I bought it, the price, the length, and the width. I actually prefer the list to the old fabric app, because I can move projects up and down the list by priority. I also keep photos of patterns in my phone but no list. It makes it easy to do a quick flip through them.

Hi Susan! That’s a really good idea to take photos of patterns and store in your phone… I hadn’t thought of that. Then I could easily browse them rather than delving through the pattern boxes and being surprised by what I have 🤣 I definitely need *some* sort of system, and a visual one that’s easily accessible on my phone would be the winner I think 👍🏻

I totally don’t have a fabric problem! Thanks for sharing. I have Patternbox, but obviously my stash is too small to make it worth spending the time to get to know when I could be, well, looking and planning projects I’ll never finish. I haven’t played with it much cos you have to pay after you’ve added about 5 patterns. I think it has options for fabric too….

Hi Jacqui! Do any of us have a fabric ‘problem’ though… or just a keen appreciation for good cloth?! 🤔🤦🏻‍♀️🤣 Haha I spend so much time planning projects that I often don’t get around to for at least a year 🤣 Thanks for the tip on patternbox – I will check that out! 👍🏻

You’re right, that’s a lot of fabric! But all great and rare pieces, so you’re absolutely justified in buying them when you see them! In my opinion anyway! There was an app called Cora that got quite a bit of attantion a while back…? It was specifically for managing your fabric stash… I don’t have ‘so much’ fabric (… but still too much for the space!) I try to keep them by fabric type and if I have enough leftovers to make a set of pockets, I fold them and stack them on a seperate shelf so I can see them easily. Nothing works for long though! Looks like the pair of you are set up for a while now! Be careful in New York! I’ll look forward to seeing your de-stash accound in 2019!! 😉 (eek, where’s the emoji on a laptop??!! – enter a wink, lol, thumbs-up and a namaste!)

Thanks for the justification of the purchases, from now on I’ll be coming to you whenever I’m thinking of buying yet more fabric that I don’t need but is oh-so-pretty 😏🙈 Hmm ok I’ll check out Cora – thanks! I feel that the stash is going to grown CONSIDERABLY in New York… I’ve already checked out the excess baggage fees for bringing another suitcase back 🤣🤣🤣 (For emojis on a laptop, I use emojipedia.com. A bit long winded, but I like my emojis!! 🙌🏻)

McCalls 6436 is a good boyfriend-style shirt. I’ve made it before, and I believe it’s the one that Morgan of Crab&Bee has had a lot of success with as well. I really loved seeing your stash! My taste is very different, but I still find all of your ideas and plans totally inspiring! Like you, I’m picky about colors and prints and weight, so tend to just buy when I see something that speaks to me… Regret is more expensive than fabric, right? And the only organization system for my fabric is the overloaded, glitchy one in my brain… So always a lovely surprise when I shop my stash 🙂 Love that your husband is adding to the stash too! Makes me curious about what mine would choose… Not sure I’m gonna introduce that prospect to him though 😉 Can’t wait to hear what you think of NYC!

Omg I am totally going to remember ‘regret is more expensive than fabric’… I love that! It’ll be my mantra when I go to New York next month 🤣 Thanks for the pattern tip… I’ll check that out! How do you find the fit – any problem areas? I think I’m seriously going to get some sort of organisation going by the end of the year – I really need to. Especially if I’m going on a fabric buying ban for 2019! Do you make for your husband? 😊

Oh my dear, if that is all the fabric you have, you don’t have a problem. Besides not being that much , it is all GORGEOUS. and that is never ever a problem.

As for how I organize my stash, I use Cora (iPhone only), to sort my fabric. Oonaballoona reviewed it and I bought it. And love it. It did take me quite a while to locate, measure and photograph all 363 pieces of my stash. Yeah, there is that much, and no, I had no idea there was that much.

I use Tap Forms for my patterns. Colette did a post about it, and I was sold. You could also adapt it for fabrics, but I had already bought Cora. Again, it wasn’t quick to catalog my patterns, but it has stopped me buying a double more than once.

The best part about having my patterns and fabrics on databases on my phone is the ability to browse my stash and plan my sewing wherever I am. A bad day at work. What can cheer you up more than looking at your fabrics and patterns

Hi Elle! Ermmmm it’s not all that I have… it’s what I’ve bought so far this year 🙈🙈🙈 although, I’m not sure that I actually have *that* many other pieces stashed away – I guess the truth will come out when I document it all, right? 😱🤣 Ah, yes I’ve just looked at Cora… I think I might have to give that one a try. 363 pieces hey 😳🤣 at a guess, I’d say I have maybe 50. Maybe even 40… but there might be stuff I’ve forgotten about 🤣 I’m also looking for something to organise patterns, so I’ll check out Tap Forms – thanks! (Thanks for all the links too, I’m gonna read all of them!) And yes I totally agree – nothing like a bit of sewing planning when you’re having a bad day! 😊

This is my second attempt to comment, the first one disappeared! I am going to try again, but this time I will copy it so if it disappears again I can email you 8-D.

First of all, I don’t think you have a fabric stash problem, it is all gorgeous and that is NEVER EVER a problem. BTW, your standards are way higher than mine. I would be terrified to cut into most of your fabrics, I’d work through it, but still.

As for fabric stash organization, I use the Cora app (iPhone only), it is amazing and I love it. Oonaballoona did a post on it and I bought it immediately. Can’t say enough good about it. It did take quite some time to locate, photograph and measure all 363 pieces of my fabric. And no, I had no idea that I had that much, it was quite the eye opener.

Then for my pattern collection (387, again, I had no idea), I useTap Forms which I found it through a Colette post, it is a great app, you can customize the database to your needs, and you could design a database for fabric too. I had the Cora app first or that’s what I would have done.

Ah, I think your comment went into moderation – this normally happens with first time posters I think. Don’t worry though your comment was still there and from now on your comments should just appear straight away 😊 So happy to hear that you like the blog! 😘

I have eventually found your reply, im not great at this email lark, please give me a day when’s good for you , not a date but a day and I will work my chemo days around a day, I’m so excited, thank you so much, you’re very kind xx I just hope I find your reply quicker next time xx take care Cindy x Please say a rough date you’re free ish so I have an area to work in xc